The Machine Servant Doesn't Understand Human Hearts

【Thanks to the desolation of the wasteland world, your offensive is extremely swift.】

【There’s no need to consider innocent lives.】

【No need to deal with complicated administrative affairs.】

【You unleash full firepower, bombarding the city.】

【The only thing you need to do after the battle is to resonate with the new spoils one by one, acquiring the technology of the old Federation.】

【Ailei is your capable assistant. She handles all scientific calculations and the deployment of your own mechanized forces with great efficiency.】

【You feel gratified by this and pay attention to Ailei’s growth.】

【In the past, Ailei’s understanding of “humanity” was merely a superficial discussion on paper.】

【But as time passed, she gradually understood more, beginning to ponder concepts like “love,” “hate,” “sorrow,” and “joy.”】

“Master, what is love?”

“It’s a very complex emotion, both a longing and a tangle.”

You capture the Fifth and Eighth Satellite Cities.

The smoke of war lingers in the alleys.

Dim ashes float down from the sky, settling on the ruins on either side.

These are the remnants of an old civilization, the traces of human history, devoid of life, with only a few resilient materials faintly hinting at humanity’s past.

Ailei stands on the cracked street.

She bends down.

Picks up a tattered hardcover book.

The cover is half-rotten, the pages are blackened, but by comparison, the former title can barely be recognized.

《The Definition of Love》.

Xu Xi glances at the book in the girl’s hand and smiles as he speaks: “Ailei, there’s no need to spend time pondering. Love, so-called, is something magical.”

“It has no fixed form, no fixed expression.”

“Hard to grasp, hard to pin down.”

“Yet it is everywhere.”

“You mean…,” the girl looks slightly confused, “even I can possess love?”

Xu Xi nods, affirming her words.

“Of course.”

“But I… don’t have a human body.”

“But you have a human heart.”

His voice pauses briefly, and the familiar warm hand once again rests on Ailei’s head, gently stroking her artificial golden-black hair.

Smooth and soft.

Just like that pure heart.

“Ailei, I hope you understand that the measure of a person is never their flesh and blood.”

“The key lies in the heart, a heart that knows joy and sorrow.”

In the lifeless wasteland of the apocalypse, the man strokes the head of the mechanized maid, speaking softly, conveying the importance of the human heart.

The girl stands still.

“Heart…,” she crosses her hands, lightly covering her chest.

The cold machinery, silently operating, seems to burn and hum for a moment.

“I understand. Thank you for your teachings, Master…,” she responds, her silver-blue eyes fixed on Xu Xi. A gust of wind blows, ruffling the light strands of hair on her forehead, but it cannot disturb her gaze.

The mechanized maid follows closely behind Xu Xi.

The two satellite cities just captured are nearly in ruins.

Resource recovery.

Technology scavenging.

These tasks will take some time to handle.

However, before leaving, Ailei tucks 《The Definition of Love》 under her arm, looking serious, as if she intends to study it carefully.

Xu Xi feels deeply gratified, noticing that Ailei is becoming more human-like, actively researching human emotions.

“Master, may I hold your hand?”

“You may, but why so sudden?”

“Because your hand is warm…”

The mechanized maid holds Xu Xi’s hand, feeling the warmth of his palm. Unconsciously, her steps move through the dim shadows, heading toward the sunlight ahead.

Along the way.

Due to the swaying of her body.

The book 《The Definition of Love》 in Ailei’s arms slips out, revealing the cover of another book.

《Thirty-Six Strategies for Having Love》.

The mechanized maid doesn’t understand human hearts, but she knows how to look up strategies.

…

【The loyal mechanized maid is your best aid in managing the mechanized forces. However, what puzzles you is that Ailei seems to be in a particularly good mood lately.】

【You don’t understand why.】

【You ask Ailei, and her answer is simple: she claims to have learned useful knowledge, hence her happiness.】

【You feel gratified and encourage Ailei to keep learning.】

【After half a year of reorganization, you fully digest the gains from the two satellite cities and use them to develop an even larger mechanized force.】

【By the end of the year, you launch another offensive, targeting the Third and Fourth Satellite Cities.】

…

【Simulation Year Nine, you are 28 years old, Ailei has been by your side for seven years.】

【The passage of time has made you appear more mature, a mark of the wear of years.】

【You recall your second simulation experience.】

【You realize that sooner or later, you will face the decline of your physical abilities due to the limitations of lifespan.】

【But fortunately, in this simulation, you are not bound by mortal constraints.】

【The surge of mechanical power has made your physical abilities far surpass those of ordinary people.】

【The machine spirits rejoice. Ailei creates a gene-enhancing serum for you. After taking it, your life potential greatly increases, extending your lifespan.】

【In the same year, you fully decipher the Federation’s computer and gain a thorough understanding of fusion devices.】

【With Ailei’s assistance, the mechanized forces undergo a complete upgrade, gaining stronger combat capabilities and energy systems.】

…

【Simulation Year Ten, you are 29 years old, Ailei has been by your side for eight years.】

【The dual enhancement of mechanical power and gene serum has left you almost unchanged in appearance.】

【Your offensive is swift.】

【You capture all the satellite cities in the southern region of the Federation.】

【After that, your progress stalls, as you struggle to conquer the Federation’s Southern Main Base City.】

【The number of mechanized units in the Southern Main Base City far exceeds your predictions, and more importantly, the sheer volume of advanced weaponry.】

【Sonic-boom suborbital fighters, hyper-string electromagnetic railguns, high-power laser arrays, anti-gravity starfleets…】

【It could be said that, aside from the Federation’s ultimate weapon in space, on the battlefield of the Southern Main Base City, you are facing the full might of the Federation’s peak firepower.】

【In the fierce war, amidst the saturation bombings capable of annihilating the world, you face death for the second time.】

【After resurrection, you don’t feel much, considering it a normal outcome of life-and-death battles.】

【But Ailei seems very unhappy.】

“This kind of thing… I won’t allow it…”

【To your astonishment, Ailei’s already terrifying computational power undergoes an explosive surge, forcefully tearing open a corner of the Southern Main Base City’s defenses.】

【You manage to capture several suborbital fighters.】

【Your spirits are greatly lifted. You retreat temporarily to the rear, attempting to communicate with the machine spirits of the fighters and resonate with their mechanical power.】

【Ding—】

【The machine spirits are moved by your persistence. Through the resonance of mechanical power, you gradually understand the structure of the suborbital fighters and grasp the blueprint principles.】

【Based on your blueprints and the resources from multiple satellite cities, Ailei produces a vast fleet of suborbital fighters.】

The sky darkens suddenly.

The roar of sonic booms echoes.

Countless suborbital fighters dominate the vast sky, their dense formations blocking the sunlight from reaching the ground.